


The Pink Motorcyle

by TheUniqueLee



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, older pearl, younger garnet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:33:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10032281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUniqueLee/pseuds/TheUniqueLee
Summary: Garnet had been infatuated with the pink haired motocyle rider who took to the city streets every night, she never once thought she would be taken home by the driver.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta'd so all mistakes are mine

 

Garnet had finished her coffee and was throwing the styrofoam cup away when she heard it. The roar of the motorcycle. Garnet knew who it was. She had been watching them ride down the streets for months now. The terrifying renegade. Garnet stopped and watched as the pink beast stopped at the street light, a practice she had done many times before.

The rider, lithe and tall. A dancer or a ballerina in a former life. Or at least, that’s what Garnet always thought. Their jacket, a simple manicured hand holding onto a single rose, reaching for it maybe or letting it go, Garnet wasn’t sure but it spoke to her regardless. Their hair, short, almost a pixie cut but it was windswept back. It was a pink color. Light and pastel like. Beautiful.

They had blue eyes, that were not only visible at such a late time in the evening but even more striking. Those blue eyes against their pale white skin and the red of the taillights and the pink of the rose embossed onto each side of the motorcycle. The colors were intoxicating to Garnet, but then again, the driver themself was intoxicating to her.

Garnet didn’t know their name and sometimes she couldn’t even care. Just seeing them was enough for her most of the time. Or catching their eyes as they rode down the street past her.

But tonight was different. Tonight, the roar of the pastel pink motorcycle cut off as it stopped right next to her.

“Hey, tall one with the afro? You ok this late at night?”

Garnet froze for a moment, just looking at them. She couldn’t believe it. The rider was talking to her.

“Hey, can you hear me or not?” the rider asked again. Their voice was nice, a little raspy but wonderful.

“Yes.” Garnet finally answered, when she felt she had no choice but to answer. Though she had already forgotten what it was she was answering.

“You ok to be walking around here this late at night then?” the rider asked again, this time taking a box from the inside jacket pocket. “There’s been reports about a molester nearby so I'm trying to make sure everyone stays safe.” the rider told Garnet, smacking the box, that Garnet could now identify as a cigarette box, and pulling one out with just their teeth. They pulled out a lighter, with the same rose pattern as their bike on it, and took a long drag of it.

“I- I should be fine.” Garnet said quickly, looking away from them.

“Are you sure?” the rider asked again, taking another long drag and blowing a ring into the air.

Garnet started to answer ‘yes’ again but she realized. This was her chance! To, at least, be closer to them at least for a moment.

“Actually, I am a little scared.” Garnet told them. She wasn’t. She had a thing of mace in her back pocket, 7 years of karate lessons in her subconscious, and a set of lungs from her mother that would put an opera singer to shame. Beyond the fact, her tall height of almost 6’3 made people think twice about messing with her. But this might be her only chance.

The rider simple looked at them while they finished their cigarette. It took a few minutes but the two stayed still, just staring at each other. As if the rest of the world didn’t matter.

When the driver was finished they flicked the butt behind them and then scooted up some.

“Where do you live?” they asked her.

Garnet was in shock for a moment before giving her address, almost a full two miles away. The rider made a noise beckoning Garnet over.

“You probably shouldn’t trust people like this. What if I was a killer or someone who would want to hurt you.”

“I trust you though.” Garnet said simply.

The rider’s blue eyes widened in shock before closing. They let out a laugh, harsh and rugged. It was a laugh that held a person’s life in it. How much pain they felt or how much joy was left in them. Garnet thought it was the most glorious sound she had ever heard.

“Do you really trust me?”

“Yes.”

They stared at each other again, before the rider smirked and nodded her head, so Garnet knew to get on finally.

“Let’s get a pretty girl like you to your home.” the rider said as they faced forward again. They didn't move for a moment.

The rider grabbed one of Garnet’s hands and wrapped it around their abdomen. Garnet followed with their other hand and then locked her fingers together so she was secured.

“Move up closer. I don't want you falling off and getting hurt on me now. I'm not fragile. I won't break.” the rider told her, laughter in her voice.

Garnet hoped her gulping wasn’t audible and scooted closer and closer until the rider nodded at her closeness.

“What’s your name cotton-candy-afro-lady?”

“Garnet. My name is Garnet.”

“Well Garnet, I’m Pearl.” they said before revving the motorcycle and speeding off.

Garnet had never been on a motorcycle before. She had always assumed it was a bit like an actual bike but she was wrong. There was something about the vibration. How the wind whipped through her hair and across her face. How fast everything moved around her. How the lights blended together but were also so separate. The noise of their city rushing by but it was so quiet. This motorcycle was like a portal to a different world for Garnet. How was such a thing possible?

Garnet smiled. How could she not?

The world was so different from the back of the motorcycle. Everything was so different. She smiled so hard her mouth started hurting, but then she giggled. Then she just flat out laughed. She kept laughing as she watched the lights from the other vehicles and the buildings and the street lights. Everything looked like lasers or maybe shooting stars. Everything moved so fast.

Pearl could hear her laughing and smirked. Nothing felt better than a pretty girl laughing in her ear.

They arrived at her house all too soon for Garnet’s liking. She unlocked her fingers and just sighed as she leaned back. When she did she realized there was a hint of peach in the air. Most likely the rid- _Pearl’s_ shampoo. Garnet quickly realized she missed the feeling of Pearl's back against her chest. How such a thin body felt strong instead of fragile or soft.

Garnet sighed before throwing her leg over the back and she attempted to stand before her knees clacked together and she lost her footing. Pearl caught her with ease and looked at her with worry.

“Sorry. Lost my balance.” Garnet told them as she attempted to straighten herself.

“First time?” Pearl asked her, amusement in their voice.

Garnet looked shocked before she realized what they asked her.

“Oh, yes. I’ve never ridden on one before.”

“Your legs can give out the first couple of times. Well, you head on in and I’ll head on out, and try to stay safe.”

Garnet walked over to the stoop of her apartment building before looking back at Pearl.

“I- um.” Garnet stuttered before shaking her head. “Nevermind. Goodnight.” Garnet said turning and walking up the stairs. She had finally met the rider and gotten their name. That was all that mattered.

“You got an ashtray up in there?” Pearl asked her.

“What? Oh  yes.”

“Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Roommate?”

“Mother actually. My moms come over quite a lot and one of them enjoys cigars.”

Pearl smirked and then let out a harsh laugh.

“I think I like your moms. Well, if you don’t mind, can I come up and rest for a minute or two. Maybe we can have a drink together?”

Garnet stood in shock before she smiled and nodded her head.

Pearl properly parked their bike and then followed behind Garnet up into the apartment building. Garnet went to the stairs immediately, as per her usual, before turning back to Pearl. Garnet kept going left and pushed the elevator button.

“What was that about?”

“Oh I usually take the stairs but I didn’t want you to-”

Garnet didn’t finish her sentence as Pearl had grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the stairs.

“Which floor?”

“4.” Garnet answered as Pearl kept lightly pulling them up the stairs until the two were just holding hands as they walked over the stairs.

They finally arrived to floor four and they walked down the hall to Garnet’s room. Pearl had kept their head head down as they walked to Garnet’s room not that the taller one had noticed. She was to worried and freaking out over if she had cleaned the apartment earlier. She hadn’t been expecting company let alone the badass motorcycle-rider she had a crush on.

“Sorry about the mess.” Garnet told them as they opened the door.

Pearl walked in and looked around. Garnet didn’t truly have much. It was a small apartment but it was also all she needed. A small kitchen area separated from the small living area with two doors that Pearl presumed were the bedroom and the bathroom. There were posters on the wall and a nice sound system on the wall. There was a small flat screen tv on the one wall with a huge window on the opposite side of the kitchen area. A large black sofa with matching armchair and white decorative pillows over them.

“Nice place you got here.” Pearl told her.

“Thank you. You can sit on the couch, ashtray on the table. Umm, I’ll get us something to drink.” Garnet told them, hoping sh didn’t sound flustered.

Pearl walked over to the couch and sat down and moaned in pleasure. The couch cushions were without a doubt filled with clouds. Pearl reached into their jacket and lit a new cigarette up and moved the ashtray over the couch arm so it was close.

“Do you mind my shoes on the table?”

“Oh, no, go ahead. Do you want ice?”

“Yeah. it’s a bit hot tonight.”

Garnet didn’t say anything for a minute and Pearl just enjoyed their cigarette.

“I umm, I don’t have much in the way of drinks.”

“Just water is fine. Unless you have whiskey. I never turn down whiskey.”

“No whiskey but I’ll remember that for next time.” Garnet laughed as she grabbed the water jug.

“Next time huh? Expecting me to bring you safely home again?”

Garnet lost their composure and almost her handle on the jug before regaining it.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind it. You bringing me home or you just coming back sometime.”

“You’ll have to invite me over then.”

“I’ll do that.” Garnet told them as she handed over the glass of water and sat down on the couch.

Pearl took a sip of water while they also put out their cigarette.

“I um- what pronouns do you use?” Garnet asked suddenly. “I’ve been trying to ask for a minute but it kept feeling a little too awkward and I’ve just been using neutral pronouns before now-”

“‘She’ is fine. I’ve never thought of myself as anything else, didn’t always have the time to question what society told me I was so it never came up in my head. Yourself?”

“Same, she/her.”

“Good. I’d hate to be thinking I had been upsetting you by calling you lady all this time.”

They settled into a cozy silence with the occasional inhale or sip of water. It felt like it should be awkward and yet, it wasn’t.

Garnet settled her nerves some, calming down a bit, relaxing.

“It used to be black. Your hair I mean.” Pearl said as she flicked ashes into the tray.

Garnet ‘hmm’ed an agreement and sipped at her glass of water.

“I remember. Well, I used to look at your thighs more than anything, but I remember your hair. Afro’s aren’t all that common in this town.”

“Tell me about it. I had to go a town over to get it dyed and restyled. My friends took me out today.”

“Any reason special?”

“Next week is my birthday but they’re going to be gone on a trip.”

“Oh yeah. How old you goin’ to be?”

“I- twenty-one. I’m going to be twenty-one.”

Pearl laughed at her. Actually, Pearl laughed so hard that Garnet was worried the neighbors would get angry. Loud and boisterous, from her belly not her lungs.

“You’re like a baby to me.” She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, short giggles coming out between her words.

“There’s no way you’re that much older than me.” Garnet accused, looking into Pearl’s face. The other woman couldn’t have been older than 26!

“Almost a decade.” There was a playfulness to her voice, as though she enjoyed telling people she was older than what they thought.

“Oh wow.” Garnet sat back into the couch, her mild surprise and shock clearly written on her face. “I’ve been thinking you’re only a year or so older than me.”

Pearl just smirked before taking refuge in her glass of water. Garnet followed suit and swallowed over half of her own drink. She closed her eyes and sighed as quietly as possible, trying to calm down again as the two sat in silence again for a while.

“So why the cotton candy color,” Pearl asked her eventually.

“I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately. I felt like some type of color would make me feel like I was different. Like I was someone new. I guess I wanted to try reinventing myself in a way. If that makes any sense?”

“Yeah.” Pearl said simply, something akin to guilt or regret in her eyes.

Garnet wasn’t quite sure what it was Pearl was feeling but she knew in that moment that even without their age difference, Pearl was definitely older than herself. Pearl had seen things in life, things that gave her a haunted look to her light blue eyes.

Garnet didn’t know how to change that so she offered Pearl comfort by patting her leg. Pearl looked over at the brown hand on top of her black leather pants and smiled. She took Garnet’s hand and brought it to her lips before giving it a kiss.

“Thank you. So tell me, what makes you trust me?”

“I- it’s a bit silly so don’t laugh. I saw you maybe a month or so before I moved in here. You were on your bike like always, but you were feeding the birds-the seagulls near the wharf. You were looking pretty roughed up but there you were feeding these birds that most people didn’t think or care about.”

“You trust me because I fed some birds?”

“Well, it’s what made me look at you anyway. There was some jerk there, harassing some people. You looked fed up and then you just walked over to him and I have no idea what you said to him but he looked like hell afterward, as if he was afraid of his own shadow.

And then the girls were smiling and laughing and thanking you but you just shook it off and went back to feeding the birds. It was so amazing. You were amazing!” Garnet told her looking at her.

Pearl looked shocked at the story, or maybe it was the look in Garnet’s eyes through her heart glasses. Pearl’s smile wasn’t happy. It was almost sad, anguished.

“So you trust me because I ‘saved’ them huh?”

“What? No?” Garnet said confused and hurt. “I trust you because you went out of your way to help people. Look at tonight. You stopped to ask me if I was ok to walk home. You didn’t need to do that but you did. I trust you because-well because-” At this Garnet faltered some, she turned her head and backed away from Pearl looked sheepish. “Sorry for getting loud,” she said almost under her breath. She was flushed and a bit out of breath, trying her hardest to explain.

Pearl, who was still sitting dazed, laughed at this. Her laugh bubbled from a quiet chuckled to a full head-thrown-back-and-possibly-waking-the-neighbors type of laugh.

Garnet truly looked at Pearl in that moment, noticed how her light pink hair was falling around her face, how her long toned jacket covered arms wrapped around the back of the couch, how her chest fell with every bit of breath that left her lungs and smiled. Blush colored Garnet’s cheeks at such a beautiful person.

Garnet laughed with Pearl. Her own laugh bubbling over until she was laughing just as loud as Pearl. Any thoughts about the neighbors fled from her because, at this moment, all that mattered was Pearl Garnet and their laughter.

The two laughed and laughed and laughed until Garnet’s neighbors started pounding on the wall. The two looked at each and snickered for a while as they attempted to contain their laughter.

 

The two eventually calmed down and looked at each other for a minute. Garnet gave a small smile.

“I’m not usually like this. This flighty and shy.”

“Really? Then what are you usually like?”

“Confident. Cool. Sure of myself. But you, you just turn me around and upside down. I haven’t had a crush like this ever.” Garnet paused and looked to the floor, unable to face Pearl. “It’s a little scary at times. How strong these feelings are before I properly knew you.”

“You still don’t, but I understand what you mean.” Pearl told her, a melancholy sigh leaving her mouth. “My last relationship is why I do this. Going around and helping people when I can. But, as much as I loved her I sometimes felt I couldn’t exist without her. When she…” Pearl looked out the window as she went silent.

Garnet wanted to ask, but how could she? This was another of those things that seemed to haunt Pearl.

She grabbed Pearl’s hand and held onto her fingers, hoping it was seen as the comforting motion it was intended to be. She stared at their hands before looking up at Pearl when she could feel the other’s eyes on her. Garnet returned the sweet smile that Pearl gave her.

She averted her eyes for a moment and bit her lip before working up her courage. She took the hand in her own and positioned Pearl’s arm over the back of the couch. Pearl watched her, clearly confused and wondering what the younger woman was doing. But her confusion quickly turned to shock as Garnet snuggled into chest and neck before putting Pearl’s arm around her own arm and waist.

They sat there for a moment before Garnet said something.

“Was that too forward? Or too awkward?”

“I-I...no. this is fine. Your hair smells amazing by the way.”

“Heh thanks. I had to switch brands to keep the color vibrant like this for a while. I think it’s supposed to smell like a type of flower.”

“Hmm it’s good.”

“I like your shampoo too. The peachy smell was nice. Though you should probably be wearing a helmet.”

Pearl threw her head back and belly-laughed which shook Garnet some before taking a drink of her water.

From there they sat in silence, letting the sounds of the city wash over them, and listening to the other’s heartbeat and breathing. Pearl’s occasional sipping adding something different but not misplaced. The low setting light of Garnet’s ceiling lamp produced a dull light yellow with a faded orange light from the streetlight onto the side of them made the ambiance of the room settled and calm. Peaceful. Just right for how they were feeling.

It was how Garnet feel asleep, listening to the ambiance of the resting and the rhythmic beating of Pearl’s heart.

  


Garnet slowly awoke later in the evening.  She felt a split second of panic when she realized she was laying down, shoulder to couch, instead of being snuggled into Pearl’s chest. She moved to lean on her forearms and noticed the blanket around wrapped around her and smiled.

She sat up entirely and stretched, attempting to shake the slight effects of a light cat nap from her brain.

She shook her hair, attempting to fix the shape of it when she noticed movement in her balcony window. Pearl was sitting the, one leg bent towards her body with the other hanging out the window with the soft orange glow of the street lights illuminating her frame, the sheer smoke of her cigarette dispersing around her. She looked beautiful and ethereal. So much so that Garnet didn't want to disturb her or the scene.

She, as quietly as possible, walked over to Pearl and stood there- looking. Gazing. Staring. Falling a bit more in love.

“Awake already?”

Garnet’s response was to sit on the sill with her back to the light looking in on her apartment. Pearl smiled a small half smile and returned to her smoke.

The two sat there in silence, listening to the occasional breeze whip through the trees and the sound of the cars on the asphalt below.

Eventually Garnet scrunched her face trying the stave off the fear while pouring courage into herself, bawling her fist as if she was heading to fight. But to her, at that moment, a fight would have been better- at least she wouldn’t be so scared.

“I like you, a lot.”

Pearl looked at her, looked her in the eyes before taking the cigarette-only half gone- and putting it out blowing the last of the smoke out of the side of her mouth and out of the window. She put the ashtray down on the inside of the window before giving Garnet her full attention.

Pearl knew better, after what happened the last time-and their age difference!- there were another thousand reasons she shouldn’t take the other woman’s hand but she listened to none of them.

She took Garnet’s hands into one of her own, smiling at the size difference and the cute look of shock on Garnet’s face. Pearl put her other hand to Garnet’s cheeks, using her thumb to stroke her soft skin, and nodded.

Garnet swallowed her heart back down and felt it jump in her chest. She turned her head and kissed the pale pink palm and smiled into it, happy.

 

 

 

 

HOLY HOLLYHOCKS!! I’ve been using this as a stress relief side project lately working on it here or there but I decided to finally sit down and finish it. I want to write more Pearlnet and maybe a company piece to but we’ll see what happens. Come say Hi on my [tumblr](http://uniqueleewrites.tumblr.com/) or my [twitter](https://twitter.com/TheUniqueLee).


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